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• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 07 December 2016

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: I would like to question you about a specific part of the Mayor’s manifesto that stated that the Mayor would “make sure Londoners get a fair deal from developers”. Profits of large building firms have exploded by more than 500% in the last six years and many local authorities simply have not been able to negotiate enough affordable housing with developers over recent years. One of the issues is the expertise and this whole industry around viability assessments when experts work for the boroughs one day and then for developers the next. Can you explain how...

• Question by: Stephen Knight
• Meeting date: 24 October 2012

Stephen Knight (AM): To pick you up on the point you have just made around the high property values in London, compared, I believe with most other developed countries, we have very few property and wealth taxes in this country; we predominantly focus on income and sales taxes. I just wondered to what extent you think the high cost of housing in London is partly driven by the fact that it is a tax free growth area for people, by which I mean it is a tax free investment and therefore that has partly driven the speculation that has driven...